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Geography May Yr 9 > Glaciation > Flashcards

Glaciation Flashcards

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1
Q

When was the last ice age

A

18,000 years ago

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2
Q

How much of the land did the last ice age cover

A

30% of the world

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3
Q

What is an ice age?

A

A period of time when thick ice sheets cover vast areas of land and the global temperature is below 0°C

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4
Q

What is a Galcier

A

A large body of ice that moves slowly down a slope or over a wide area of land

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5
Q

What is an example of a glacier in Europe

A

Mer de Glace in French alps

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6
Q

What three processes of glaciation that effects the landscape

A

Erosion
Transportation
Deposition

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7
Q

How do glaciers form?

A
  1. They form in cold places where lots of snow falls but not all of it melts
  2. The snowfall forms many layers of snow, where the bottom layers get compressed into ice as air is pushed out
  3. This compression of snow into ice creates a glacier.
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8
Q

Whats the difference between an ice sheet and a glacier?

A

Ice sheets are masses of ice which cover large areas of a continent
Whilst glaciers occupy mountain valleys (called valley glaciers)

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9
Q

What countries were covered in ice during the last ice age

A

Switzerland
Ireland
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Denmark

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10
Q

What is an interglacial

A

A period of time when there aren’t any large ice sheets, unlike ice ages

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11
Q

What is the current coverage of ice on the earths surface (%)

A

10% of the earths surface is covered in ice, mainly in Antarctica and Greenland and as well in high altitudes

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12
Q

What is an input of a glacier?

A

An input can come from an avalanche but it is mainly from snow fall (precipitation)

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13
Q

What is an output?

A

Meltwater is the main output from a glacier, along with evaporation.

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14
Q

What is accumulation

A

It is when there is more inputs than outputs (inputs>outputs=accumulation)

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15
Q

What is ablation

A

When there are more outputs than inputs (outputs>inputs=ablation)
Ablation usually occurs in summer at lower altitudes and this can cause the glacier to retreat.

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16
Q

What is accumulation AND ablation

A

It is when inputs and outputs are equal and balanced

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17
Q

What are the three main processes of a glacier

A

Frost shattering
Abrasion
Plucking

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18
Q

What is frost shattering?

A

It describes the action of glacier meltwater on joints, cracks and hollows in rock.
- Water enters a crack during the day
- At night the temp. drops and the water freezes and expands, causing the crack to widen

19
Q

What is Abrasion

A

The moraine frozen into the glacier acts as sandpaper against valley sides and base.
(like corrosion but on a larger scale)

20
Q

What is plucking

A

When water freezes onto rock on the valley base.
The glacier pulls the rock from the valley base.
Plucking mainly occurs when the rock is well jointed

21
Q

What is a corrie?

A

It is when snow collects in a natural hollow on the side of a mountain. Over time the snow builds up, this extra weight compresses the snow underneath, turning it to ice

22
Q

How is a tarn formed?

A
  1. Snow gathers in a hollow and turns to ice
  2. Material from the base of the hollow is plucked out, making the hollow deeper through abrasion
  3. Eventually the ice outgrows the hollow and goes down the slope due to gravity
  4. When the ice melts it leaves a deepened hollow called a corrie.
  5. When this corrie fills with water it becomes a lake, this is called a tarn.
23
Q

What is an Arête

A

A knife edged ridge formed between two corries.
When 2 corries form next to eachother and their adjacent walls are erroded backwards until they meet a narrow and pointed rock ridge is formed, this ridge is an Arête

24
Q

What is a pyramid peak?

A

When 3 or more corries are formed back to back

25
Q

What is a U-shaped valley also known as?

A

A glacial trough

26
Q

How is a U-shaped valley formed?

A

A glacier will move down a V-shaped valley created by a river, rocks trapped in the bottom of the ice will act like sandpaper a wear away at the valley through abrasion, the glacier will deepen, straighten and widen the valley through this abraision.
After the ice melts there will be a U-shaped valley remaining.

27
Q

What is a misfit valley

A

A river that flows through the valley after an ice age. (This river couldnt have eroded the valley)

28
Q

What are between truncated spurs?

A

Hanging valleys are in between truncated spurs, they are places that have not been eroded as deeply as the main valley

29
Q

What landforms are created by glacial deposition?

A
  • Moraines
  • Drumlins
  • Erratics
30
Q

What type of landform is a moraine?

A

It is created when a glacier deposits the material (till) that it has been transporting. Its made up of unsorted and angular rocks.

31
Q

Where is a Terminal Moraine found?

A

A terminal moraine is found at the furthest point of a glacier (end of a glacier)

32
Q

Where is a lateral moraine found?

A

A lateral moraine is found along the sides of a glacier

33
Q

Where is a medial moraine found?

A

A medial moraine is found at the junction between two glaciers.

34
Q

Where is a ground moraine found?

A

A ground moraine is a diagnosed pile of rocks of various shapes, sizes and types, found on the ground

35
Q

Where is a recessional moraine found?

A

A recessional moraine is material found at the snout of the glacier as it retreats or advances.

36
Q

What is a Drumlin?

A
  • Drumlins are smooth mounds of deposited material that reaches about 1 kilometre+ in length and 500m or so in width and 50+ metres in hight.
  • It is thought that they were formed when the ice became overloaded with sediment.
    (A group of drumlins is called a SWARM)
37
Q

What are striations?

A

They are scratches on material that the glacier is carrying. They give an indication of the direction that the glacier was traveling in.

38
Q

What are erratics?

A

Erratics are large boulders that have been carried by the glacier and then deposited in an area of different rock types, so that they look completely out of place.

39
Q

What is an avalanche?

A

An avalanche is a massive snow and ice that moves very rapidly down a mountainside

40
Q

What are physical causes of an avalanche?

A
  • Heavy snowfall
  • melting weakens the layers of snow and ice causing them to become unstable
  • small earthquakes
41
Q

What are human causes of an avalanche?

A

People skiing or snowboarding can cause increased pressure on the layers of snow, this can cause an avalanche.

42
Q

What is the result of an avalanche?

A
  • lives are lost
  • buildings are destroyed
  • people are buried and injured
43
Q

What are ways in which to prevent an avalanche?

A
  • Experts will monitor the state of the snow and decide if its safe to be skied or snowboarded on
  • weather warnings can be issued on areas thought to be at risk
  • wooden fences can be built on a slope to hold back snow
  • trees can hold the snow together
  • trees also break up small avalanches preventing them from becoming dangerous
  • roads and buildings that are at risk can have shutes built to protect them

Geography May Yr 9 (3 decks)

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